40 Years of Urban Planning: What’s Really Wrong With Metro Manila скачать в хорошем качестве

40 Years of Urban Planning: What’s Really Wrong With Metro Manila

Is Metro Manila beyond saving—or just badly planned? In this episode, we sit down with Paulo Alcazaren—one of the Philippines’ most respected urban planners—to uncover why our cities feel broken, and what it actually takes to fix them. With over 40 years of experience designing cities across Southeast Asia (including stints in Singapore, BGC, and Ortigas), Paulo breaks down the root problems behind traffic, flooding, overpriced housing, and failed infrastructure—from Bulacan’s airport mess to the abandoned Makati Subway. We talk insider corruption, land banking, zoning chaos, why the MMDA has no power, and the one structural reform that could change everything. If you care about the future of Metro Manila—or you’re investing in Philippine real estate—this is essential viewing. 🔔 Don’t just complain about bad roads and worse traffic. Understand how the system works—and how it can be fixed. 📲 Follow me for more real estate, infrastructure, and investing insights: Instagram:   / johndang808   YouTube:    / @johndang808   TikTok:   / johndang808   LinkedIn:   / johndang808   💬 Join our global investor & creator community on Discord:   / discord   ⸻ ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 – Where’s the Next Big Investment Outside Metro Manila? Paulo Alcazaren gives his take on rising secondary cities and why Bulacan’s potential might be overhyped. 1:04 – Meet Paulo Alcazaren: The Visionary Urban Planner 40+ years shaping Southeast Asia’s cities—from architecture to policy. 2:30 – Why Metro Manila Is Broken: The Governance Problem The real reason behind poor planning isn’t money 4:02 – Who Really Controls Real Estate Development? Is it really the government? 6:04 – Bulacan’s Airport Controversy Reclaimed land, flood zones, and the harsh environmental tradeoffs. 8:44 – Infrastructure Growth in the South Lipa, San Pablo, Batangas growth 10:31 – Why Big Projects Like the Bataan–Cavite Bridge Fail The painful truth about big announcements vs real execution. 13:05 – The Makati Subway: A Cancelled Dream? Explained: Why one of the most important subway legs was scrapped. 17:05 – How Metro Manila Lost Its Unified Governance Post-EDSA politics and the weakening of MMDA’s power. 20:01 – It’s Not a Housing Problem, It’s an Income Problem Housing isn’t unaffordable because of shortage 28:02 – Zoning Chaos and the Need for Central Authority Too many players, no clear coordination—how the system fails by design. 34:02 – Metro Manila: The Last Metropolis Without Unified Governance Compared to Tokyo, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila is still stuck in the past. 41:00 – Townships vs Cities: Who Runs the Philippines? Why enclaves like BGC exist, and how public governance is being outsourced to private developers. 50:00 – Why Taxation Is Broken Across LGUs Different cities, different rules even inside the same mall. 57:05 – The Real Reason We Can’t Build Social Housing Developers won’t touch low-income projects because the math doesn’t work. 1:06:00 – We Don’t Plan Cities—We React to Them Why “planning” in the Philippines isn’t really planning. 1:09:01 – The One Solution That Could Fix Everything How bringing back Metro Manila Authority (MMA) could coordinate all 17 LGUs. 1:18:25 – Everything Points to the Same Root Problem Transparency, infrastructure, PPPs—it all leads back to governance. 1:20:57 – Why Social Media May Be Our Only Hope New leaders are rising—and they’re bypassing old political machines. 1:33:14 – Where to Learn More from Paulo Alcazaren Connect with PGAA Creative Design for real urban planning impact. ⸻ 💡 Key Takeaways ✔️ Metro Manila’s real problem isn’t traffic—it’s fragmented governance. ✔️ Without zoning reform and metro-wide planning, chaos will continue. ✔️ The government has the land and the money—it just doesn’t use it well. ✔️ Private corporations run cities better than LGUs—but that’s not a good thing. ✔️ Change is possible—but only if we rebuild trust, transparency, and coordination.